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December 23, 2018

ENGI'm sending you Season's Greetings from my recent trip to Canada, greetings as yellow as Montreal in the autumn: bicycles,
books, and bonbons; signs, shop fronts, and street art; maple leaves;
and the cover of Rupi Kaur's "The Sun And Her Flowers". And Poutine, an
iconic Quebec dish of french fries topped with cheese curds and
smothered in gravy!

May 4, 2018

ENG I'm having my morning coffee with some Blur... Just love the band's "Coffee and TV" video featuring a milk carton looking for guitarist, Graham Coxon, who wrote and (sang) the song to describe his struggle with alcoholism...

I'm having coffee and loving it, too! Frezza Oat Latte is a vegan and non-dairy espresso and oat milk drink with a hint of cane sugar, also available with almond milk.

The espresso is a blend of UTZ-certified robusta and arabica beans, and, what's best, the drinks come in an environmentally friendly carton can with a lower carbon footprint than the normal beverage packs. Remember to recycle!

To go with my coffee, I'm having Loov gingerbreads from Estonia (gluten free, dairy free). Baked with coconut oil and buckwheat, "every biscuit is placed on the baking tray by hand!" the producer claims. "Life can be healthy, wholesome, sweet and organic."

May 3, 2018

ENG "Our culture overuses walls. Put your books, art and plants on the floor in an organized manner. Your place will feel taller and bigger. You will have less space for furniture, but the pieces you keep will be more important in your life." (Ben Aranda, designer, New York *)

"Change style seasonally. Style is not static. It's always shifting to reflect new experiences and interests – and your home should mimic that. At the beginning of every season, try putting away a few things. Then sprinkle a couple of finds into the mix. They don't even need to be new! 'Shop' from your bedroom for your living room – an vice versa." (8 ways to supercharge your style, in Apartment Therapy. Complete + Happy Home (Potter Style 2015)

PS And judging a book by its cover, there's a also a violet-covered one: I've been reading Sanna Wikström and Jutta Gustafsberg's pep talk book "Tsemppikirja" during my commute to work this Spring, and I love the following types of passages: "Puff up the (smallest) good and then surrender to it (...) You can stir up good in your life by being grateful for the smallest things: blankets, sunshine, woolen socks, friends, colors... just anything. And when you manage to 'switch' your brain to observe the good over and over again, it becomes a way of life, a way to look at life, and once you internalize this, your life is no longer dependent on what is happening around you." (My translation) ⎮ On olemassa violettikantinen kirjakin: Olen tänä keväänä työmatkoilla lukenut Sanna Wikströmin ja Jutta Gustafsbergin Tsemppikirjaa, jossa pidän seuraavanlaisista katkelmista: "Paisuta (pientäkin) hyvää ja sitten antaudu sille (...) Voit herätellä hyvää elämässäsi kiittämällä pienistäkin asioista: peitosta, auringosta, villasukista, ystävistä, väreistä… ihan mistä tahansa. Kun pystyt itse 'kääntämään' aivojasi hyvän havainnointiin yhä uudelleen ja uudelleen, hyvän näkemisestä alkaa tulla elämäntapa, tapa katsoa elämää. Kun tämän tavan oppii, ei ole riippuvainen siitä, mitä elämässä tapahtuu."

"During my years of working in the fashion industry, I have seen first-hand the effects of newer, faster and 'better' ways of living and buying. Ultimately, choosing faster and cheaper can equate to unwitting disregard for humanity and the environment.

It is often much easier to consume what is convenient without thinking too much about the larger impact or consequences of our chooses – particularly the continuing use of toxic chemicals, haphazard disposal of these wastes, unprotected workers and unsafe practices. These conditions simply cannot be sustained long-term if we are to continue living on this beautiful blue planet. As globalization makes our fashion production more and more transparent, we are no longer blind to manufacturing methods. As the processes become understood by the end consumer, customers begin to make choices.

Patti Smith once said, 'I choose Earth'. I see a future where we all choose Earth.

I applaud the work of Sass Brown and all the designers and innovators who are working toward that future. I believe that the greater 'machine' can be slowed and reined in, and that beautiful ways of working can grow from that restraint. Those outlined in this book are individuals and companies that make me hopeful and are making a difference in the world today.

For instance, the work of MAYER Peace Collection includes handcrafted tailored jackets and coordinating separates made from antique fabrics, and perfectly illustrates the beauty that comes from upcycling material. Piece x Piece offers a personal response to the overwhelming amount of waste produced by the fashion industry by using waste cuttings from other garments producers. What would traditionally be considered trash and would find its way to a landfill is now the basis of stunning limited-edition pieces of clothing. As I read through Sass's book, I clearly see beautiful new values emerging on every front.

My journey with textiles spans my entire life, beginning with memories of my grandmother's sewing circles during humid summers in northern Alabama. The magnificent quilts made then are now considered valuable treasures, but were commonplace and practical at that time.

These women 'upcycled' out of necessity, using fabric taken from salvaged flour sacks and outgrown Sunday dresses that had seen their last wearing.

While these seamstresses surely never used the words upcycled, recycled or sustainable design, their common-sense approach and practicality are characteristics we should emulate and applaud.

My experience of over a decade with my company Alabama Chanin tells me that recycling and repurposing texts lends to the complexity, artistry and value of a finished design. As people, our many roles change and evolve over the course of a lifetime; I love the idea that textiles can do the same. Sass Brown's work proves that reviving something in order for it to serve a new purpose can be a beautiful act of conservation, design and art.

Photos ⎮ kuvat:Sini Pennanen (Sininen Kuva), published in a Business Finland article "Artek: Manifesto of a 21st Century Design Company"

ENGIt's Global Recycling Day, and to celebrate I'm revisiting some themes I've explored during my five years of blogging. Artek's 2nd Cycle was one of my first topics as a blogging novice five years ago – I would never give up my secondhand Artek!Later on I bumped into the following interview (excerpt) of Mirkku Kullberg, former managing Director of Artek, on Northern Delights. Scandinavian Homes, Interiors And Design (Gestalten 2013) – also published five years ago:

"Please explain the idea behind Artek's 2nd Cycle Project. – Artek 2nd Cycle was a manifesto against the madness of Milan 2007 and the fair buzz in general: the press, dealers, and consumers were running after newness and the latest of the latest. Artek had been blamed often for showing the 'old' Aalto icons and nothing new. Our question was: so what if we think that old is better than most of the new things out there?

In 2007, the word 'sustainability' was quite new, while the whole design scene was dancing tango with fashion – fast and furious. Artek wanted to challenge the whole scene and declared Sustainability as Attitude and started talking about authenticity and origin of the design. We wanted also to talk about quality and design as an investment. Artek is the only company that can really own the second-hand market as we still have the same production, same standards, and systems with product components.

The main idea behind 2nd Cycle is to talk about longevity and durability – the main factors when talking about sustainability. Our motto is "One Chair Is Enough", meaning that the Artek product can live from one generation to the next one without losing its value or identity. The design, the beauty, and the quality stand for time. We also think that people need layers in their lives. 2nd cycle is an excellent way of combining the old and the new. This gives people wider perspectives.

March 16, 2018

Photo ⎮ kuva:Katja K. – I'm planning the first bicycle trip of the year in the beginning of April, can't wait! (Quote: Albert Einstein @ N'Avetta)

ENGA great weekend and spring ahead! Sunday, 18 March is Global Recycling Day! And I feel like saving other dates as well! Mark your calendars!Like me, you might have missed the Circular Electronics Day on 24 January that highlights the positives of making sure that electronics have a second life instead of collecting dust in a drawer but we can compensate on the following days, and many more to come! – I've been reading Sanna Wikström and Jutta Gustafsberg's pep talk book "Tsemppikirja" during my commute to work this week, and somewehere among the book's 52 maxims it says: "Happiness does not arise from maximizing your own good at the expense of others" ... 18 MarchGlobal Recycling DayClick on the link to learn more on the Seven golden rules of recycling and the "seventh resource", that is, the goods we recycle every day (the six primary resources are water, air, coal, oil, natural gas and minerals). "It is time we put the planet first and all commit to spend 10 more minutes a day ensuring that materials are disposed of properly." President of the Bureau of International Recycling, Ranjit Baxi

March 8, 2018

ENG After Gold & Green of Helsinki's luncheon, #nyhtiliike, I begin as I mean to continue and prepare a Thai Curry with lime and ginger flavored Pulled Oats, a recipe from "Nyhtökaura. Vegepäivän reseptikirja" by Maija Itkonen & Reetta Kivelä. I love it...And remember there was a green curry paste flavored potato and coconut milk curry (in the above picture) also in "Reilun kaupan ruokaa ja elämää", a Fairtrade cookbook I prepared in 2009. – Which one is it for you?

1. Dice both the potato and sweet potato and boil them.
2. Chop the garlic clove and onion. Sauté in oil with grated ginger over medium heat.
3. Add the potato, sweet potato and Pulled Oats. Continue sautéing for 2-3 minutes.
4. Mix in the curry paste, vegetable stock cube and coconut milk as well as chili to taste.
5. Allow to simmer for a few minutes. Serve with jasmine rice and top off with fresh coriander and chili.

Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the curry paste and cane sugar for a minute – be careful not to burn the ingredients. Add the diced potatoes and fry them too for a minute. Pour the coconut milk over everything and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add the spinach, peas and soy sauce. Cook for another 10 to 15 minutes until the potatoes are done. Top off with the nuts.

ENGLast wednesday I took part in a lunch meeting prompting us to get a grip of our meat-eating habits, #nyhtiliike in Finnish.

The luncheon was organized at Martat, a Finnish home economics organization promoting well-being and quality of life. Since the foundation of the organization in 1899, meat consumption in our country has doubled!

I'm a vegetarian – representing a mere 6 percent of the population, I am told – and already a Pulled Oats convert: see my discoveries on the nutritional value of the product combining the best of both oat and bean proteins here.

But there's more to Nyhtökaura – that the producer Gold & Green of Helsinki claims to be a perfect protein: It's ecological! Just think that by opting for Pulled Oats rather than beef to prepare a pasta bolognese dish for a family of four, you save as much as 28 tubfuls of water in one go!

Also the recycled Pulled Oats package boldly states that it "used to be a bottle", and (maybe you already guessed) a Gold & Green tote bag "used to be textile waste" and was obtained through a "purecycling" process by Finnish Pure Waste. Pretty perfect, I'd say!

March 6, 2018

ENG For a while longer, I want to linger in warmer climes and the books that I have been reading to keep myself warm in the winter evenings: Annie Hawes in Liguria, Peter Kerr in Mallorca, and the Provence trilogy by PeterMayle...Much to my sorrow, I recently learned that Mayle passed away in January 2018. In the last part of the trilogy, Encore Provence, Mayle, a self-proclaimed optimist, dreamed of planting olive trees, but realized that he would have to add an extra century to his life in order to surely enjoy the results of his work. – I regret not having any original English passages to share with you (if you know Finnish, see below) but I invite you to get a hold of the trilogy and, why not, Bon Appetit! Travels Through France with Knife, Fork and Corkscrew.FIN Viipyilen vielä hetken lämpimämmässä ilmanalassa ja kirjoissa, joita olen lukenut pitääkseni itseni lämpimänä talvi-iltoina: Annie Hawes Liguriassa, Peter Kerr Mallorcalla ja Peter Maylen Provence-trilogia... Kuulin äskettäin surukseni, että Mayle kuoli tammikuussa 2018. Vielä trilogian viimeisessä osassa Takaisin Provenceen Mayle haaveili istuttavansa itselleen oliivipuita mutta ymmärsi, että joutuisi lisäämään elämäänsä ylimääräisen vuosisadan, jotta pääsisi varmasti nauttimaan työnsä tuloksista. "Pidän itseäni optimistina, mutta rajansa kaikella."
Minä olen aina rakastanut piknikkejä, mutta seuraavan katkelman syntymäpäiväretki saa myös Maylen epäluulot häviämään – vaikka piknikseikkailun jälkeen alkaakin sataa kaatamalla.

February 20, 2018

ENG I'm just back from a soothing holiday in Tenerife, cleansed – less stress, less depression – and, hopefully, with a new perspective on life.More than beach finds (that I love) my trip was about soul-searching: I was on a mission to design the life I love (lovely book by Ayse Birsel, click here). – The fellow in the following Haruki Murakami extract makes beach finds a metaphor of his whole life... and I just can't help comparing the junk, as he calls it, the junk that the author can have imagined washing ashore in 1985 when Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World was published, to today's debris. Let alone 2050, when there is expected to be more plastic in the seas than fish! – Let's love our seas and try to keep them special, as Murakami says them to be!

"You want to know about me?" she asked. "Where I was born, what I was like as a girl, where I went to school, when I lost my virginity, what's my favorite color––all that?"
"No," I said. "You're fine as you are. I'll learn more as it comes."
"I'd like to get to know more about you though, little by little."
"I was born by the sea," I said. "I'd go to the beach the morning after a typhoon and find all sorts of things that the waves had tossed up. There'd be bottles and wooden geta and hats and cases for glasses, tables and chairs, things from nowhere near the water. I liked combing trough the stuff, so I was always waiting for the next typhoon."
I put out my cigarette.
"The strange thing is, everything washed up from the sea was purified. Useless junk, but absolutely clean. There wasn't a dirty thing. The sea is special in that way. When I look back over my life so far, I see all that junk on the beach. It's how my life has always been. Gathering up the junk, sorting through it, and then casting it off somewhere else. All for no purpose, leaving it to wash away again."
"This was in your home town?"
"This is all my life. I merely go from one beach to another. Sure I remember the things that happen in between, but that's all. I never tie them together. They're so many things, clean but useless."
She touched my shoulder, then went to the kitchen. She returned with wine for her and beer for me.
"I like the moments of darkness before dawn," she said. "Probably because it's a clean state. Clean and unused."
She snuggled up close next to me on the sofa, pulling the blanket up to her breasts, then took a sip of wine. I poured myself some beer... – Haruki Murakami: Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (Vintage 2003, translated from the Japanese by Alfred Birnbaum)

January 20, 2018

ENG "Begin as you mean to go on, and go on as you began... ("Charles H. Spurgeon) – Planning on a weekend brunch in Helsinki? Why not go for a vegan brunch at Loop?After the craze of food and drink sharing applications, a number of food waste restaurants opened their doors in Europe: Freegan Pony in Paris (temporarily closed), Instock in Amsterdam, and Rub & Stub in Copenhagen. The restaurants usually work on food donations from supermarkets, bakeries and producers, including, for example, slightly battered bell peppers or bread that has passed its expiration date the day before.

"Did you know that... if food waste was a state, it would be the world's third largest in emissions. #fromtastetowaste

Recyclie, that's me, a foodie gone (re)cycling: This blog's all about bicycle riding, living and cooking on a shoestring, and, naturally, recycling, or "repairing, repainting, reinterpreting, reviving, redeploying or simply relishing" – to quote one of my favorite interior designers and authors, Ilse Crawford–, feminine and Finnish style, with an Italian twist. In real life, I'm a Helsinki-based interpreter and translator, as well as the author of "Reilun kaupan ruokaa ja elämää" (Perhemediat, 2009), that is, the first Finnish Fairtrade cookbook.